My first 3D trilobite

[MotloAstro]

An unidentified species of Paralejurus, dated to the Emsian age of the Devonian. It's from Jebel Oufatene, Morocco. It's also my first 3D trilobite. Of course, I bought it, I don't have any skills in finding fossils and preparing them. They'll hopefully develop in the future though.

[piranha]

Please post a photo of the pygidium.

[MotloAstro]

2 minutes ago, piranha said:

Please post a photo of the pygidium.

I'll post it tomorrow as I live in Europe and it's quite late here to set everything up, take many photos and focus stack them now.

[MotloAstro]

Here is the pygidium, a quick shot with a phone.

[ynot]

aussome piece!

Thanks for sharing.

[MotloAstro]

43 minutes ago, ynot said:

aussome piece!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Lovely bug! 

[piranha]

The reported Emsian age was perplexing so I checked with two friends that specialize in the scutelluine trilobites for additional feedback on this specimen.  The most current literature from Schraut & Feist 2004 report Paralejurus rehamnanus Alberti 1970 as the closest match from the Emsian of Jebel Oufatene.  Unfortunately some obvious features are not correct for that particular species, so rather than P. aff. rehamnanus, we should also consider a Pragian age as another possibility, and a better match appears to be Paralejurus brongniarti cf. menanensis Šnajdr 1960.  A few of the similar features for P. brongniarti cf. menanensis are larger eyes, granular/pitted cephalic sculpture (versus the distinct cephalic terrace ridges of P. rehamnanus), and pygidial furrows although weak, appear straight and seem to extend virtually to the margin, with no border being present.  The pygidial axis is absent on the posted specimen and could be the result of some combination of poor preservation, aggressive preparation and/or slight body filler utilized for aesthetic reconstruction.

 

Schraut, G., Feist, R. 2004

The Devonian styginid trilobite Paralejurus, with new data from Spain and Morocco.

Journal of Paleontology, 78(4):709-722  PDF LINK

 

The following photos of Paralejurus brongniarti cf. menanensis are credited from this: LINK

 

[MotloAstro]

On 17. 3. 2019 at 1:40 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Lovely bug! 

Thanks a lot!

[MotloAstro]

On 17. 3. 2019 at 10:05 PM, piranha said:

The reported Emsian age was perplexing so I checked with two friends that specialize in the scutelluine trilobites for additional feedback on this specimen.  The most current literature from Schraut & Feist 2004 report Paralejurus rehamnanus Alberti 1970 as the closest match from the Emsian of Jebel Oufatene.  Unfortunately some obvious features are not correct for that particular species, so rather than P. aff. rehamnanus, we should also consider a Pragian age as another possibility, and a better match appears to be Paralejurus brongniarti cf. menanensis Šnajdr 1960.  A few of the similar features for P. brongniarti cf. menanensis are larger eyes, granular/pitted cephalic sculpture (versus the distinct cephalic terrace ridges of P. rehamnanus), and pygidial furrows although weak, appear straight and seem to extend virtually to the margin, with no border being present.  The pygidial axis is absent on the posted specimen and could be the result of some combination of poor preservation, aggressive preparation and/or slight body filler utilized for aesthetic reconstruction.

Thanks a lot!